The author Sabine Ludwig tells that she herself has had 13 painful school years. It is therefore a mystery to her why so many of her books (“Help, I shrunk my teacher” or the “Miss Braitwhistle” series) are set in school, as is her new volume “AusCalculated Adelheid!”, in which two third-graders stand in the center.
It is “hard work” to write funny books, says Sabine Ludwig
How can you be called Adelheid? Mom and Dad just wanted all daughters in the family to start with an A. Adelheid’s sisters at least have the melodious names Annabel, Alexandra and Antoinette. The youngest had a distant relative who was named after her and was already wrinkled when Adelheid’s grandmother was still a child. Ah, if Adelheid were called “Zoe”! It’s a good thing that her beloved teacher also has a terrible name: “Mrs. Schmelzekopf”. There is something else the girl struggles with: while the sisters are all pretty and talented – one in sports, one in math, the third in art – Adelheid is good at nothing and has protruding ears on top of that. Since her last teacher thought she “needed a little more time,” she is repeating a school year.
At least she sometimes manages to bail out her friend Benni. After all, he’s been scolded enough: Because he’s all nonsense on his mind, always comes too late to class or gives cheeky replies. For example, if Benni puts a turtle in the zoo on the grounds that there are enough there and that he has wanted a pet for so long, Adelheid jumps in – and promptly gets into trouble himself. Secretly, Adelheid sees herself in the role of the blue-haired fairy who always wants to prevent Pinocchio from getting into trouble and finds a solution for every Benni problem. But best friends don’t let you down! Especially since Benni is obviously a neglected child, while Adelheid is teased and annoyed by her family as a “little bastard”, but – unlike Benni – is given a sandwich for lunch.
It is “hard work” to write funny books, says Sabine Ludwig in an interview. And in the second volume, which will be published in autumn, Bennie has plans to marry Adelheid’s grandmother to his grandfather. (from 8 years)
Sabine Ludwig: Adelheid of all things! With illustrations by Barbara Jung. cbj 2022. 192 pages, 12 euros.